Gyrithrea Nightwing
Description ''A faint smile meets the eye; long hair of violet and green catches the gaze of any viewing her. The green seems almost mossy, while the violet is a deep, lustrous hue. She wears clothes fashioned of quilted leather the same shade as her hair, and her garb is adorned with fangs, moons, feathers, and leaves. '' Gyrithrea is a quiet, serene druid who exemplifies the most alien elements of druidism. Her mind seems to have been deeply altered by her time spent on raven wings, or lost in the barked form of a treant. The changes that have affected her seem to primarily be ones of her perception of the world. She simply does not see the environment in her vicinity in the same fashion as most others. History Gyrithrea Nightwing was born in Nighthaven almost two thousand years ago, when it was the center of Kal'dorei life. She lived an ordinary childhood and early life, and entered into the priesthood at the appropriate age. A normal, devout Sister of Elune, Gyrithrea's life was essentially absolutely unremarkable. No great traumas affected her for many centuries of peaceful study and quiet, reverent contemplation. The War of the Shifting Sands Some five hundred years before the present-day, the War of the Shifting Sands occured. At that time, the strictly gender-differentiated Kal'dorei people sought to hold back the onslaught of the Qiraji empire and the malignant entity behind it. Gyrithrea journeyed with her fellow Sisters of Elune to work on the battle lines, tending the fallen and healing the wounded. Despite the tumultuous and scarring time, Gyrithrea emerged largely unscathed, though she has since proven deeply reluctant to discuss whatever her experiences were during the hideous conflict with the forces of an Old God. She was among the army that witnessed the hideous and tormented death of Fandral Staghelm's brave sonValstann following the ambush at Southwind Village; she was there also as the distraught and grief-maddened Staghelm shattered the Sceptre given to him by the dragonflights after they and the massed Kal'dorei successfully drove the Qiraji back behind the Scarab Wall. Perhaps as a result of her silent witnessing of these emotional events, Gyrithrea, unlike many druids, has never condemned Staghelm, though she is firmly allied with the Moonglade Circle as opposed to Staghelm's Darnassus faction. Mount Hyjal and the Destruction of Nordrassil Gyrithrea returned to Nighthaven and her Temple work, letting the horrors she had seen in the sands of Silithus remain there, as buried as the Qiraji behind their wall. So life remains until the invasion of Ashenvale by chaos orcs led by Grom Hellscream. Made aware of the wholesale slaughter of the outlying Sentinel forces in that region, Gyrithrea once again prepared to take on the role of medic in a conflict which would forever change the Kal'dorei people. However, instead of setting out to Hyjal's rocky crags, and the gnarled mighty roots of Nordrassil, Gyrithrea did not leave her rooms, collapsing mid-way through packing her meagre belongings and healing kit. She fell into a deep slumber which other priestesses could only conclude was natural, if unexpected. Left carefully arranged on her bed, Gyrithrea was left behind, and the others carried on without her, healing the wounded at Hyjal, and tending the horrified survivors in the aftermath both of an invasion of Kal'dorei lands by mortal races, and the severing of the Kal'dorei tie to the World Tree with its explosion. Had any remained, they might have seen the sleeping priestess cry out in her slumber as the Tree exploded. Gyrithrea was hardly the only Kal'dorei to be afflicted with the strange sleep; many others succumbed after the battle. Most were women, and all woke with a strange light in their eyes. Druidism Gyrithrea, like the rest, found herself drawn inexorably to certain glades in the forest around Nighthaven. When she arrived at the one which called her most loudly, she found a waiting male druid. He wore only a feathered kilt and cloak, and to her eyes, he seemed to be a great raven rather than a man. He waited silently, and the quiet priestess proved that she too could wait and watch. After four days of this, he began to speak, and Gyrithrea became an Apprentice Druid of the Talon under his tutelage. From that day onward, Gyrithrea was no longer a priestess, though the compelling desire to heal has remained strong in her. She now watches, reports, observes, and flies the skies of Outland and Azeroth, only landing to prowl as a violet panther, or cast healing magics over her allies. Return to Silithus Gyrithrea since finding herself an avowed Talon has led many adventurers into the darkest recesses of the world. Her quiet words and awareness of the natural energies led her fellows through the Molten Core to best mighty Ragnaros, into the lair of the Broodmother Onyxia, and eventually, into the ruined Temple of Ahn'Qiraj itself, where she faced the physical manifestation of the Old God C'thun, whose dark control had led the qiraji outward to so traumatize Kal'dorei society. Following the success of Gyrithrea and her allies, the serene druid calmly led her forces into the floating citadel of Naxxramas where it hovered above the human Plaguelands, managing as expertly to destroy the hold of the lich Kelthuzad on the region. When the Lich King summoned the citadel away, she merely nodded her head, and prepared to assault Tempest Keep, doing so with typical quiet ease, and the help of stalwart fighters who have learned to trust her healing skills and tactical eye to lead them where they wish to be. Family and Kin Gyrithrea is the daughter of a druid and a priestess of Elune. She shares the same father as the druid Niinayya, who too fell to slumber from her post as a Sentinel, waking to make her way not to the Talon but the healing Grove. Gyrithrea and her half-sister remain close, and each have at different times worn the feathers, fur, or bark of the many shapes which comprise druidic magic. She has a strong bond also with a feral druid, Amoona Everclaw, and seems to be greatly happier in the stronger druid's company. Category:Characters Category:Alliance Category:Alliance Druid Category:Night Elf